ASHRAE Journal - April 2022 - 63

FIRST PLACE | 2022 ASHRAE TECHNOLOGY AWARD CASE STUDIES
the supply fan to run at high speeds with little change
in static pressure. This damper was repaired and the
fan returned to normal operation. There were known
issues with the fi re dampers throughout this building,
resulting in a review of the fi re dampers. A report was
provided bimonthly that identifi ed zones with suspected
fi re damper issues.
Cost-Effectiveness
Since the CEMCS Support Services contract started,
the combined total savings attributed to this program is
$390,269, far surpassing the annual fee associated with
the service contract. The savings for each measure are
tracked for 12 months after implementation. The benefi
ts (cost savings, comfort, maintenance, IAQ, etc.) will
be realized by each college for years into the future.
Example #5. One of the most cost-effective measures
reviewed in this program was the analysis of utility bills
versus BAS real-time utility meters. The Occupational
Technical Building's electrical contract capacity was
originally set at 150 kW. The utility tariff set the minimum
demand charge per month at 60% of contract
capacity, or 90 kW. The average monthly demand over
the previous two years was 66 kW. This resulted in the
college paying the contract minimum instead of paying
for their actual demand. Data from CEMCS was
provided to the utility company and the contract capacity
was lowered, resulting in $5,400 a year in demand
savings. Similar billing error rectifi cations have been
implemented at other locations. A full table of these
measures is shown in Table 1.
Environmental Impact
The positive environmental impact from this commissioning
service can be attributed to the continual
reduction of electricity, natural gas and water consumption
across KCTCS's facilities. From the incremental
optimization of ASHRAE Guideline 36-2018 sequences
to the resolution of economizer issues to the discovery
of water leaks, the conservation measures implemented
due to CEMCS fi ndings are creating energy-effi cient college
facilities, with the added benefi t of enhanced IAQ,
improved learning environment and occupant comfort.
Example #6. The water bill entered for February 2021
at ECTC's ATB Building was the highest historic bill for
the building. A review of the system revealed a broken
fl oat in a cooling tower was causing the fi ll valve to
TABLE 1 Utility rate savings identified through continuous commissioning.
COLLEGE
FACILITY
BCTC
BCTC
BCTC
BCTC
ACTC
ACTC
ECTC
JCTC
ECM
Georgetown Demand Correction
Building M
Leestown Main Contract Capacity
Science Building Contract Capacity
Main Building
LRC
Shelby Campus
Billing Error
UTILITY SAVINGS
$74,857
$1,636
$580
Billing Error
Billing Error
OTB 300 Contract Capacity
Billing Error
JCTC Technical Building A Contract Capacity
MCTC
MCTC
SKYCTC
Main Campus Contract Capacity
Main Campus Sales Tax Removal
Glasgow Sales Tax Removal
TOTAL
$11,000
$2,488
$1,772
$5,400
$9,314
$12,000
$3,754
$1,165
$557
$124,523
be 100% open for almost a week. This water was then
immediately going down the storm water drain, therefore
not visible to the maintenance staff. The fl oat valve
was replaced the same day the issue was identifi ed, and
a rebate was returned to the college for a total of $5,805.
Conclusion
In 2009, Lawrence Berkeley Labs identifi ed continual
commissioning, or monitoring-based commissioning
(MBCx), as critical to achieving high-performance
buildings. Without it, energy use increases over time for
a building operating business-as-usual. KCTCS and the
state of Kentucky decided to invest in a robust data analytics
platform to provide the data. By pairing that data
with a continual commissioning service, they ensured
that data would be turned into action.
Since 2015, average EUI annual reduction across the
colleges due to the continual commissioning services is
7.5 kBtu/ft2 · yr (85.2 MJ/m2 · yr). Energy use will continue
to decrease as more building optimization opportunities
are discovered. These results have confi rmed Lawrence
Berkeley Lab's prediction of the long-term impact on a
building's energy use by implementing continual commissioning
strategies.
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ASHRAE Journal - April 2022

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